People will always have limitations. When it comes to remembering things, our brains can only take so much before it tends to forget some information. When managing multiple tasks at a given time, relying on our own memory is never a good option. And that’s when checklists come into play.

Your job desperately needs to be structured with a checklist, but if your first checklist doesn`t survive, don`t despair. Just like best laid plans, checklists—at least first drafts—will often go awry in the real world. Even aviation and surgical checklists are constantly being modified to be easier to use, clearer, and more useful in real-world situations.